Why this therapy dog story caught my attention

Good morning, subscribers,

Ann Arbor Public Schools is currently mired in a budget crisis and facing a storm of community members asking how the district found itself in this place. But another message in my inbox about Ann Arbor caught my eye this week: an email from an attorney sharing a lawsuit against the school district, which alleges that a school principal and other administrators took part in stealing a teacher’s dog , originally meant to be a school therapy dog.

A few hours later, I interviewed the kindergarten teacher at the center of this battle: Alexandria “Lexi” Fata, who says Gracie the Bernedoodle came to live with her two years ago after her school’s principal helped arrange the free adoption and school PTO-sponsored training of Gracie to become a therapy dog. The arguments between Fata and the district are complicated. And so, too, are the arguments about Ann Arbor’s therapy dog program itself.

For one, the lawsuit claims Ann Arbor didn’t have a codified policy in place around therapy dogs or ownership, something other districts appear to have, which might have helped clarify ownership at the beginning of this saga. A spokesman with Ann Arbor Public Schools did not answer my questions about policies in place and I could not find an online policy.

In a broader context, the question of therapy dogs in schools is interesting and relevant given the explosion of therapy dogs in schools in these post-COVID years. While there is research to show mental and social benefits for children in school, the case out of Ann Arbor illustrates a potential need for a bit more thought about liability. After all, as in Fata’s case, it’s easy to get attached to a sweet, rambunctious puppy. And if ownership isn’t clarified up front, it might cause problems, as it has here.

And a bigger issue is certification: Therapy dogs aren’t service animals protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. There’s a certification process, but it’s unclear if all school therapy dogs are certified and it does not appear there is any state or federal oversight around therapy dog programs.

In Ann Arbor, the most pressing question in Fata’s case is where Gracie will go in the upcoming months, as Fata prepares to move out-of-state and Ann Arbor Public Schools maintains Gracie is district property, not Fata’s dog. I’ll keep my eye on this — and it’s your subscription that helps me do that.

Thank you,

— Lily Altavena, education reporter

313-364-0032

laltavena@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why this therapy dog story caught my attention